Ripples
by Writing1sLife
Summary: Rita has been defeated. Yet what of her warning? What of these...others who would come?
1. Chapter 1

Ripples

(Lost Planet)

It was dark here, and cold, very cold. Though there was an atmosphere, it was as cold as the vacuum of space here. Once there had been a form of life on this world, but now it was gone. All that existed here was a barren and empty world of rock and dark pits.

Something moved in the silence. A disturbance that was not seen but could be felt. A ripple in the fabric of existence. Only a higher being like itself could sense it, though it was but a servant. It began to move; a foreign action that had not been performed in centuries. The destination was known. The call must be answered.

A large, towering crystal formed the backdrop for an object that the servant approached. This crystal once glowed and hummed with essence, with power, and this world once had life on it. All that had been consumed and converted into primordial essence. The crystal was black and silent now, its light gone out permanently. The object before it resembled a pearl of the finest quality yet like an oval egg in shape it was, though no egg contained an essence so foul, black, or putrid.

The essence within the object was alive. It stirred within its prison. The seal, the servant knew, still held it after centuries. Long ago, this world had been stripped of its light and life permanently, and then other lights had come to this place. These lights had pierced the dark and beaten away at it. And then, the one light had separated from the rest and held the dark in an unrelenting grip…finally choosing to sacrifice itself to create a seal and force the dark to regress to a state of non-being.

The servant placed a hand against the prison. "Master…do you feel it? Do you not sense it?"

"There is little that I miss." The voice was soundless yet known anyway. "Even behind this seal, formed by one sacrificed life and the weaving of multiple powers." The servant remained silent. One did not speak until the master had nothing left to utter. "I have felt the like of this before. The fallen one…it is her."

"Yes. I recall this feeling in that different time; when all was young and the stars fewer. It is her, and she has been felled by the other powers. Long ago did her power burn like a star over the others, only to go out. Now it has been removed, yet she remains." Here the servant paused, choosing what to say next carefully. "What is to be done is not of my concern or will. What is my will, is to ask if you have felt the great stirring across the stars? Powers that have not been felt…they begin to stir. All feel it surely. If not, then they have a least been touched."

"The light that I once consumed," said the prisoner. "On another planet with life…and lights that burn to remove it from all others and keep it out of reach."

The servant felt the words vibrate through its being. "Open a gateway. Bring her."


	2. Chapter 2

Lightless

(Lost Planet)

Ice cracked and slew off her. Rita's eyes painfully opened. The last thing she remembered was being struck into space by the Mega-Zord. All she had seen, filling her eyes, was the planet, as she was taken by the cold vacuum of space.

She jolted awake realizing she was not anywhere she remembered. This place was dark and cold. It was like the vacuum of space in temperature, but there was no absence of air. Contradictory elements. How could there be an atmosphere around this world yet no life exist? She began to walk on unsteady legs. This place had caverns, towering walls, canyons, all the same dark black color of soot. For a number of minutes, she looked for anything that might help her understand where she was and what had brought her here.

Then she paused and inclined her head slightly. A foreign sensation, pulling at her innermost being, at the black hole where the power had once dwelt. Words from a time almost forgotten began to return to her. Why now? What was the cause? Was it this place?

_What do you truly seek? What do you fear? You may be amongst them, but you know deep down…you are not one of them. Why be with them, when the stars, the heavens themselves, could dance in your hands? All that you need do…is stretch forth your hand and take it. Take what is already within your reach…and then you will have the strength to reach even farther. You shall be beyond worthy. Seek what lies beyond that word. Seek that, and you shall become more._

Rita stiffened. This place…! Could it be…? Please let that not be true. Let it not… A turn brought into view the oval prison that gleamed in the faint starlight that did reach here. A throne formed from the soot-black rock was behind the object. Further behind the prison, Rita could see the outlines of the object behind it: a Zeo crystal…but one without any light.

It was devoid of any stirrings of power or life. This one was huge, but it was nothing except solid, black, useless rock. It had been consumed. Which meant…that which was before her…was…

"Rita."

She collapsed for her knees gave out from fear. "Y-you."

"Ah dear child, we have much to talk about."


	3. Chapter 3

Dark Gift or Curse?

(Lost Planet)

"W-what do want with me?"

"Rita, I just want someone to talk to."

She could not help but gasp slightly. "Talk?"

"What were they like? The one's who took you down. I remember the ones who defeated me, but not these new lights that you faced."

Rita knew this voice. Or at least had heard something of the owner. This being was responsible for the actual death of a Ranger. The Green Ranger had died to imprison this evil, and then Zordon had appeared on her home world. He had presented the coin to her people stating that it had led him there for someone. It chose her. Her real name was something humans would not be able to speak. The tongue was too different.

When she had touched the coin, she had felt a pleasant warmth. But underneath that warmth…subtly lurking inside…

"Why am I here? I have no power. I have nothing to give you except my worthlessness. Just have someone kill me rather than waste your time."

"Waste? My time?" The imprisoned one sounded actually confused at this. "Oh, dear, dear infantile one. I am here to educate you and give you back something that you have lost."

"I have lost something? Of course I have. I have lost my power!" snapped Rita in anger. "Without power I am nothing in this expanded universe! Without power, I cannot possibly even survive!"

"Yes, that is true; you have made a number of enemies through the simple fact that you nearly claimed the crystal of another world. Sadly Rita, you thought that between that and the coin, you could actually stand against other powers that sought it."

"_You. LACK! __**VISION!**__"_ thundered the prisoner. Rita was thrown from her feet on to the unforgiving stone beneath her. The planet felt like it was actually trembling. "You actually believe that just having the crystal alone would grant you the stars?! You actually believe for that reason I whispered the enlightening truths I did to you through the coin?! Tch. Such a waste."

"Me!?" gasped Rita. "A waste!?" She staggered to her feet clutching her bruised ribs. "You never did anything! It was me! And me alone!"

"Really? Then how come your power demanded that a coin be in your possession? Why did you need a staff to channel the power? Why Goldar?" Rita gasped at the last statement. "I can sense the truth on you Rita. I understand the soulless construct that you so loved. The problem with you is that you trust no one and rely upon a creature with strength, loyalty, and no heart. But without it…why without it, you're just that scared little creature on that world Zordon found." Rita flinched. "On a world where a young little one dreamed of escaping a world that was xenophobic and rejected all change."

How did this one know these things? In fact, who was the prisoner? She was starting to become very curious about the identity of the speaker. A dark thought of something shared in common began to swirl in Rita's head. Maybe she had been brought her to potentially gain some measure of revenge.

A dangerous smile nearly broke out upon her face, but she kept it inward. If she were to…help this prisoner, maybe, just maybe…

"You came to give me a lesson? Fine," she returned sweetly. "But I am willing to believe that, ultimately, it is not me alone who is in need of help. You need me for something, or else you would not have me here." She paused in contemplation. "You are a prisoner, and I am the only one who knows of this other crystal, the world it is upon, and the Ranger team that guards it. You want information."

"More than that, I want freedom."

"That isn't surprising. But I know nothing about this seal."

"Allow me to tell you that it was a most marvelous and horrifying construction. The seal that binds me is a life."

"A life?" That was a rather vague, obscure and enigmatic statement. "A living thing is that which holds you captive?"

"A life sacrificed is the source, while the power of the Rangers, interwoven together, forms the framework. Their power was focused through the one Green Ranger, ascended to a greater level of power, and then solidified according to her will. She held me immobile, while they struck me down. They could not kill me, but they could imprison me and render me helpless."

"Fascinating. So, when they combine powers…"

"They are quite capable of many incredible things. This prison is the worst. My strength, grown by leaps and bounds thanks to the crystal, has bled off into nothing. What remains is still formidable, but useless in my current state."

"So why then should I help you? I could just take the gift you give, and then leave."

"Because you cannot receive it without my being free. That is unfortunately the sad truth." The voice lowered a little. "The true gift is this…" the voice lowered further so Rita had to strain to hear, "…I know the mortal weakness of their power."

"Then that is worth any price," Rita concluded. With that she slapped her hand upon the structure and held it flat. A flare of green, leftover traces of the power that had been within her spiraled out in sick, twisted threads like thorny limbs and began to curl and weave all around the "egg". Rita screamed in pain but held on without letting up her hand.

Cracks began to form on the surface. Sludge began squelch and slither out from the openings and gathered on to the ground. Rita's eyes rolled up and she collapsed back on to the ground. The filth and ooze began to gather together as more and more escaped. "At last," breathed the foul-smelling liquid, "Too long have I been tormented by that horrible scene of that wretched White Ranger who gladly made herself a living prison for me."

The rocks near Rita's arm began to condense and form together into a long and twisted form like the staff she possessed upon Earth. "My gift unto you my dear. And my curse. You'll not betray me as easily as you might think." The rotting blob was now taking on a shape like that of a man. "Ah Zordon, I have waited to long to be entertained by the suffering of creation yet again. My army scattered, my power wasted, the world's I held freed, and the creatures I could watch dance like puppets attached to strings I could cut whenever I wished are no longer under my influence."

Ivan Ooze opened his eyes at last and surveyed himself; then took a shuddering, aching step. "Ngh. Pain, movement. I have missed also the splendor of simple movement and the pain of walking upon any surface, the ache of combat, the pride of standing in glory over a foe's remains. That ugly trap confined me to a non-existence of being nothing more than the primordial essence I so love." He looked at Rita with a smile. "When you wake and take that staff, you will be bound eternally to it. Let it go…and you may not survive the pain."


	4. Chapter 4

The Worst of Fates

(Vice Galaxy, Throneworld)

The servant had been on his way to his master. Long had he served faithfully. The "Emperor of Evil" was a force without equal or splendor in the mind of his servant. He also knew of how his Lord had suffered greatly at one point and was forever forced into wearing a suit that forever hid the scars and horrifying damage. It also made him more terrifying than ever before. Only fools underestimated Zedd.

So great was his haste and his concern to report that he forgot to knock and instead simply burst into the throne room. This was not without consequence. Crack! Went a blast of energy from the angry figure who spun at the disturbance.

"Agh! My lord! Please cease! It is merely your humble servant with news!" He dropped from the pillar that an invisible hand had pinned him against, and he fell down on all fours, but chose to remain prostrate rather than attempt to stand. "Forgive my rudeness and my haste!" he plead. "The urgency of what I have learned pressed upon me heavily!"

"Stand." The armored figure in ruby-red and white silver gestured favorably with his right hand for his left held a staff forged by his own hands. "You may speak…vermin; and then you will leave. I do not have patience for the presence of others."

"My lord… he-he-he is arisen again. The foul blackened one. He who ruled long before you my Lord. He has been released."

"And?" Zedd did not sound impressed nor concerned. Rather he sounded bored.

"And this does not concern you? My lord, a crystal was consumed by him before. My spies…those who serve as my eyes and ears whisper of a dead world they found, orbited by the decaying remnants of several moons, all rotted and dead."

"I am aware of this sensation. However, I am not concerned about the ruler of essence primordial. I am more interested in the one who doubtlessly has freed him."

"What little I have sensed, would suggest that the traitor has actually helped him my lord."

"Then she is a fool. Of course, she has been that for much of her life. Thinking that the crystal alone was the answer, she fell to the temptations of power." Zedd held his hand before his face and turned it back and forth, fingers flexing. "Power," he breathed. "I know full well the consequences of blindly succumbing to temptation. I would have sought revenge on Zordon and the others if time had permitted it."

"My lord…"

"Together they actually found a way to prevent me from even breaching the atmosphere of that world. Reckless and blind with desire, feeling that I could succeed, I ignored the pain. I actually began to push through the barrier, but then the pain hit. Too late, did I realize that I could actually perish for my actions and that I very much wished to not die."

The servant merely looked on in silence and shock. Lord Zedd never spoke of these rumors. It was forbidden and all who served knew the risk of seeking answers. And yet it was as if he did not exist. Zedd merely continued to speak, while staring at the heavens from the window. "It was by the merest of fortune and blind chance that I actually escaped the field before I could succumb to it. I managed by sheer force of will and rage to retreat to my throne to lick my wounds like a vanquished, galactic, monstrous abomination."

"They may have thought me dead. I nearly thought myself dead. It was by the aid and unceasing efforts of many loyal servants that I was gifted this armor which began to heal me, but it could not remove the scars. It was many centuries before my rage and all the boiling-hot emotions, the pain, actually began to subside and my sanity returned. I slew my servants after the last of the armor was set in place."

"My mind was submerged in magma, my veins flowed with acid, my eyes melted under the heat of the sun." He breathed a heavy, and harsh, angry breath. "Pain. It is a great teacher. It is also quite merciless and cruel. But if you survive and become wise from it…then its purpose has been fulfilled."

He turned back to the servant. "Consider yourself fortunate that you did not live when I first came limping back to this world." He began to walk closer, his staff tapping, his cape flowing slightly with each movement. "Once, I would have merely seized you by the throat and torn you to piece with my own hands. For extra measure I would have forced power into you to keep you alive and screaming until I crushed your head. Time has tempered me and taught me."

"If you intend to kill me, I shall not stop you, my lord, my life, oh ender of those who displease."

Zedd turned away. "I have been aware of his existence for a time: Ooze. As I locked myself away into a desperate slumber to heal, lest I destroy my empire in my pain-induced insanity, I began to delve into my senses. I unlocked a new gift for sensing the moving and twisting of powers to an extent."

"My lord," breathed the servant in wonder and awe.

"Yes," he said, a rare note of pride entering his voice. "It was unexpected gift from such a terrible incident. I became aware of a creature fouler and uglier than even I. Thus, I also came to the knowledge of how strong he was. He is greater than me, but he is also weakened from what he once was. I do not have to defeat him however; he shall do that to himself for me. It is Rita that I am truthfully interested in."

"My lord, if I may so be bold as to ask: why?" Zedd let go of the staff and it became a serpent that shown as if with stars and swirling galaxies upon its body. It slithered to the throne in the room and curled itself upon the left-most hand-rest. It eyed the servant with intelligent and somewhat hungry eyes, yet it did not move for Zedd simply gestured and it curled down into passivity.

He turned to his servant. "Why? I shall share with you why."

"But I am not worthy my lord. It almost would constitute a weakness to others if you were to openly display interest in her. But it is not for me to question you, rather, it is my duty to serve."

"Correct, but I trust you with such knowledge. For if you should prove untrustworthy," he looked back at the throne and the snaked hissed lightly and opened wide to reveal teeth before settling down.

"I understand my fate," said the servant firmly. He was amazed that his voice did not tremble.

"Good. Very good. I have wondered for a time if there was such loyalty as yours." Zedd returned to the window and placed his hand on the frame looking out. "I am ruler of a vast empire. But I, and I alone, sit isolated and absolute at the pinnacle of this mighty power I have created. It creates a void within me that remains there; and seems to keep on growing. All I know is that this pain seems to be incurable. But then I see Rita and see perhaps one who might satisfy my desire."

"Desires my lord." He hummed aloud in thought. "You express that you are not satisfied, and yet you are poised to expand this empire you hold. But you would actually share it with another? Is that what you seek? Dangerous."

"Rita is dangerous, but also so easily blinded. She is but a child playing with powers that she still does not understand. She lacks the maturity to truly wield power. There are many forms and kinds of power in this universe. I have learned of many, but I am plagued by foreign sensations and feeling of emptiness that becomes unbearable."

"There are fates worse than dying. Sometimes to die is a kindness. That is part of what makes Ooze so cruel. I have heard of the tales of how he trapped souls in the essence of his very robe and forced them to die screaming slowly…very slowly. I would grow tired of the endless howling after a time, the cries of the souls. It is his pleasure to not let beings die quickly but slowly and unbelievable agony."

"Yes my lord. He is whispered of as a being whose tale would be placed only a scroll or book stained black as the blackest of black holes. But Rita is treacherous and unstable. She does not have any desire to be in the presence of living things. The moment she senses an opportunity, she will turn on you. I feel it to be rather fraught with risk, but I merely voice my thoughts, I do not speak for you."

"Indeed, and I grow weary of this. Depart. I might still feed you to the serpent anyway."

"I shall take my leave," stated the servant hurriedly bowing and walking out.

Zedd remained focused upon the heavens, his mind wandering. A stray thought crept up. It was an unusual one for a being of his cruelty and ruthlessness. _There is no fate crueler than to be alone for an eternity, to have the whole of creation, but have none to share in it. And I…am alone._

Oh yes, there were fates that were cruel when compared to dying. Fates far crueler.


End file.
